Sunspots
by Riza A
Summary: Dark moments can pollute even the brightest of times. A collection of unconnected drabbles that focus on different characters and various pairings. Twisted? Me? No, not at all. Rated for my sanity. I'm not promising to keep these clean and sparkly.
1. Hold me

**Hold me**  
_::Kakashi x Sakura::_

_Sing for me,_ she said. _Sing for me and make the monsters go away._

_I don't know how to sing anymore,_ he replied, eyes sad and defeated and _broken._

_Then tell me a story,_ she pressed. _Tell me a story to make the pain go away._

_All the stories I have to tell,_ he murmured, _are of death._

Silence then, as she didn't know what else to say. The man seemed adamant, so very sure of what he was, what he had been shaped into. And so she reached out her wide, young arms, green eyes hopeful and naive. She held out her arms and said, _Hold me._

The man didn't know what to do, so he started to walk away. The girl continued to stretch out her arms, though. _Hold me,_ she said again, _Hold me and together we'll make the monsters go away._

And because the man was weak, and because he was broken, he did. He held her and she held him, and even as some of their worries thawed in the glow of the other, the man knew that it was only a short amount of time before this joy, this light, went out too.

* * *

**E.N. **

Will I ever write a light-hearted, funny Kakashi?

Will I ever write something _happy?_

Stay tuned to find out.

**Riza****  
**


	2. Home again

**Home again**  
_::Naruto + Sasuke::_

There was nothing more he could do.

There was so much more he could have done.

Why? Why did he have to look so fucking _blank?_ Why couldn't the bastard look angry, just for a moment? Couldn't he show something, anything, to prove that he was still _human?_

How much of this, exactly, was truly Orochimaru's fault?

How much of this was Sasuke?

In the moment when Sasuke pulled that unfamiliar sword and leaned over beside him, when Naruto caught the smell of death and hate and fear, he _knew_ that they were never going to get Sasuke back alive.

But he would make good on his promise to Sakura and bring him home, no matter the cost.

Team Seven would never be whole again.

* * *

**E.N.**

Poor Naruto. He goes through so much shit in the manga and the anime, and now I have to put him through the ringer in fanfiction.

I should be whipped.

With cream.

**Riza **


	3. Beautiful lies

**Beautiful lies**  
_::Sasuke + Itachi::_

Lie lie lie lie lie lie lie lie lie-

How many times could one person lie?

How long before lies blur over into truth, and truth into lies?

There was something about him that made you want to believe. Something about his voice, his presence, his damnable blank face that made you want to nod and accept his words.

Sasuke shook his head clear, as clear as it would get these days, and pressed on, throwing another kunai at Itachi.

No matter how much he wanted his brother's death, he wanted his _brother_ more.

Sometimes he wondered, what would it be like to live in a lie? To live as if it had never happened at all.

He ran up a tree, blocking punches as he went, and wondered how long something like that would last.

And how far he would have to fall to try.

* * *

**E.N.**

Give me some love. Sasuke is depressing me, damn it. Kiss it better, please?

**Riza**


	4. Release me

**Release me**  
_::Sasuke focused::_

It didn't always have to hurt.

Living. Living didn't have to hurt.

Bodily, perhaps. But mentally, it was a different story. It didn't have to hurt _so damn much_, if only he stopped remembering. If only he could block off his emotions, say out loud without a waver in his voice that he didn't care.

What did the death of his clan mean to him?

Everything.

_Nothing._

Sasuke looked at his hands. His callused, scratched, marked hands, and realized that he would never kill his brother.

If he couldn't let go of the dead, he would never be able to release the living.

* * *

** E.N.**

Sasuke is so sad. He wants some love. Give it to me, and I promise to pass it on.

**Riza **


	5. Emotion

**Emotion**  
_::Sakura::_

Over time, hearts harden.

Over time, emotions decay into pitiful shells that are but ghosts of former glory.

Given _enough time_ you can turn a person into a ninja. Turn a ninja into a killing tool. Turn a killing tool into hardened steel. Turn hardened steel into _perfection._ Not simply perfection, but perfection fit for display.

If you don't shove down everything that makes you human, makes you imperfect and unique, you can never succeed as a ninja. If you don't swallow your tears and stifle your screams, you can't ever move ahead on your chosen road.

This is what Sakura heard her whole life.

But she _couldn't_ swallow her tears. She couldn't stifle her screams. Before, this bothered her. She knew that she was hopeless. Just a simple, big forehead type of girl, who would be good, but not great.

Then Naruto proved her wrong. He didn't box away his emotions. He didn't let them wither and decay from disuse. One day, she hoped – she _knew_ – Naruto would be a great ninja. Naruto would be a great ninja because if he could, then she had a chance.

Pushing chakra into her arm muscles, Sakura let out a cry - _ragehatefearworrywhywhywhy?_ – and punched it into the ground just like Tsunade had taught her. Sakura might have been a failure when it came to masking her emotions and drowning her humanity, but one thing that she had mastered was using those forbidden feelings to fuel the anger, sadness, worry, and love necessary for her strength.

* * *

**E.N.**

I am very, very tired. And my emotions are fried. Thus, Sakura becomes my conduit for repressed feeling.

**-Riza**


End file.
